Friday, March 29, 2013

All That You Need to Know About Orthopedic Surgery


Orthopedic surgery is the branch of medicine that deals with the study of injuries to the skeletal system. The study includes the various parts of skeletal system like muscles, bones, joints, tendons, nerves and ligaments. Musculoskeletal ailments are the second most common reason for people to seek medical help.

Orthopedic surgeons a great many procedures to fix broken bones and ligaments, surgically remove tumors and work on the functional ability of joints, including perform reconstructive surgery on joints.

Failure of Orthopedic Surgery Procedures

One of the most common reasons for orthopedic surgery procedures to fail is that the tissues being repaired do not hold up against the strain of rebuilding and healing. Examples of these failed procedures include the instances of rebuilding ligaments, non-healing of fractures, recurrent arthritis and recurrence of pain after surgery to heal causes of chronic pain.

One of the other causes of the failure of orthopedic surgery is infections after surgery. Infection is, of course, a common cause of surgical failure after any sort of surgery, but these are more critical in the case of orthopedic surgery. This is because orthopedic procedures commonly involve the use of foreign bodies and metal implements. If these implants are infected, the body's immune system cannot deal with the organisms affecting the implants because these are foreign to the body. If infection sets in after the surgery, the results on the body can be quite disastrous.

The only way to prevent infections during and after surgery is to maintain an antibiotic cover during and after surgery. Signs of infection building up in the body after an orthopedic procedure are a recurrent redness around the site of incision, together with a discharge from the site of the wound.

Another reason that causes the failure of orthopedic surgery procedures is the forming of blood clots. These blood clots occur when the patient has been laid up and stagnant for a long period of time or because of some inflammatory substance or chemical produced at the wound site. Orthopedic surgeries involve an extra risk of blood clots because the nature of the procedures itself makes for reduced movement and increased stagnation. Blood clots that are formed in a limb can be catastrophic if they travel up to the lungs, causing blood flow to cease.

While orthopedic procedures are usually quite safe to undergo, in some cases, complications can show up because of subsidiary reasons, like infections or the formation of blood clots. These can be reduced or eliminated by following a correct and adequate antibiotic protocol and trying to be physically active as soon as possible after the surgery.

There are plenty of orthopedic surgery procedures like knee or joint replacement surgery that can make a significant difference to the quality of life that a patient enjoys. Going in for orthopedic surgeries is not something that can be needlessly risky and can be easily carried on smoothly if some precautions are taken.

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